Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DVP-NS601HP DVD Player

Was thinking of getting a bluray player (PS3) to match with my new HDTV. But with a $399 price tag for the PS3, I decided to get the 1080p DVD upscaler a try. I really liked that it already came with HDMI cable so i picked this one up over the other players there although they have more features, USB port etc/DIVX. I was only concerned at improving the picture quality of my DVDs on the HDTV so other features aren't that important to me. Also, didn't want the hassle of buying a separate HDMI cable. Set-up was easy using the HDMI cable and was watching in no time. Picture is great and really worlds of difference than my standard DVD player.

Also, i've seen some folks over the internet that posted bluray and upscaled DVD picture side by side. The differences aren't that great. You have to sit very close and really look to see the difference.

I haven't tried bluray yet, i'm pretty sure they are awesom, but for the price (less than $80) compared to $399 PS3, i'll be fine with this for now maybe until blurray player/PS3 prices come down. Overall i'm very happy and enjoying 1080 resolution with my DVDs on my HDTV.

Easy to setup & use. Good picture...However, it struggles with DVD-Rs even though it advertises that it is compatible. It plays them but pauses every once in a while before it continues. It's not because I had a dirty disc - I tried 7 DVD-Rs and noticed problems on five of them. Then I tried the five discs in another player and they worked flawlessly. I plan on returning this player and getting something more relible.

I bought this Sony model to upgrade from my older Sony DVD player. I wanted to upgrade my DVD player, and this was the one. It was an easy choice. I went with it because it up converts your DVD's to pseudo HD, which, for me is good enough because Blu-Ray is still stupid expensive as I write this review. This player does a great job. Very smooth playback. Sony's precision drive technology works as they claim. The DVD player is also very responsive. The only drawback with it is the loading times. It takes longer to load DVDs over my older player, since it has to up convert your material. Also note, that you have to go through HDMI to be able use this feature. Furthermore, the HDMI cable that came with it was junk (nothing is free!). I had to get a gold plated Philips HDMI cable from the store. Once I got that, it was ready to go. So make sure you have a good HDMI cable. On some things, especially cables, you can't skimp. It sucks, but you just can't.

I recommend this player if you don't want to have a heart attack over the cost of getting a Blu-Ray setup and the ridiculous price tag for that format of movies. I might get a Sony Blu-Ray player someday if the prices drop to a more reasonable rate. But on your LCD or plasma TV, this player does a great job. Great picture and sound. Flawless playback so far for me, like my older Sony player. You just have to get used to the longer load time. But I can live with the few extra seconds it adds. :)

I really appreciate Sony for creating a great DVD machine for such a low price. It has all the features that you need and has a great picture and sound output.